Screw electric contact device.



N0. 660,887. Patentd 001. 30. |900. C. CHEVALLIEB &; E. CADET. SCREW ELECTBIUCUNTACT DEVICE.

(Application Mud Jn. 5, 1900.)

2 Sheets-Shut l.

(lo Model.)

No. 600,007. l Patented ont. 30, |900. c. cHEvALuEn 0 E. CADET.

SCREW ELECTRIC CONTACT DEVICE.

(Application lsd .h n. 5, 1900,) (NQ I'BGL) 2 Sheets-Shut 2.

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vUNITED STATES PATENTl OFFICE.

cnARLi-:s cuEvALLInR, or sr. QUENTIN, AND nUenNn CADET, on

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SCREW ELECTRIC CONTACT DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 660,887, dated October 30, 1900. Application filed January 5, 1900. Serial No. 466. .No model.)

To all whom, it 77ML?! concern:

Beit known that we, CHARLES CnEvAL- LIER, residing at St. Quentin, department of Aisne, and EUGNE CADET, residing at Peronne, department. of Somme, France, citizens of the Republic of France, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Screw Electric Contact Devices, ot which the following is a specication.

Our invention relates to a new screw electric contact device based on the employment of a quick-threaded screw connected with the member or members to be used to produce any sort of effect at a distance. The said device is more particularly applicable to militaryor other shooting-targets, the shots tired at which are automatically marked at a distance.

In the accompanying drawings we have shown our invention as applied to a suitablyconstructed military target.

Figure l is a front View of the target, onehalf of the movable segments and xed disks being removed. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the target. Fig. 3 shows diagrammatically the mark receiving board or device. Figs. 4 and 5 are detail views of a contact device constructed according to our invention. Fig. 6 shows a modified form of the contact device.

The front part of the target is formed by metal panels a and b, arranged in different vertical planes, the series of circular segments being placed concentrically around the segments a, as shown in Figs. l and 2. The series of segments d overlap to a certain extent !he next series of segments Z1 in order to present to the shooter an entirely t'ull surface. Behind each series of segments lies a fixed disk c or d, serving as aguide and support for the said segments by the medium of rods e, fixed to the latter, of perfor-ations in the disks c and d, and of brackets f, xed to the disk d. The bracketsf maybe provided with rollers to facilitate the sliding of the rods e when a projectile strikes one of the segments a b. Between the segments and the disks c fl are placed rubber washers g or springs, serving to bring the segments for ward again after being driven back by a shock.

The contact devices to which ourinvention essentially relates are placed behind the disk d, their number being equal to that of the rods e, opposite each ot' which a contact device is placed. Each contact device comprises, as shown in detail in Figs. -l and 5, a vertical screw 77., having one or more widelypitched screw-threads and which turns in a fixed nut or support t', screw-threaded internally and ixed to the disk d. The upper part of the screw 7L is provided with a balance-piece having at its ends heavy parts j, forming a balance-wheel or essential part of the same. At the lower end the pointof the screw h abuts against a plate le, vertically movable on guiderods m and constantly pressed upward by spiral springs yn, encircling the said guide-rods. Above the plate 7e is arranged on a support, which serves also as a guide for the screw h, a metal washer 0, insulated electrically from the remainder of the mounting. The different washers o corresponding to the different segments a or Z) are connected together and also with the corresponding wires p. The wires p, equal in number to that of the segments a and b, may 'oe assembled together in a cable q, leading to the marking de -ice placed near the shooter, by whom they are connected with one of the poles of an electric battery r. All the plates L are also in comnxunicationwith the metal frame of the target, and they may be connected with the second pole of the battery r either by a return-wire or by the ground.

When a projectile strikes one of the segments a or b, the shock compresses one or more of the springs g and the corresponding rod or rods e are driven in through the perforations of the disk d and strike the spheres 7' ot' the contact devices placed opposite. Theimpulsion thus given to one of the spheres j causes the screw 7L to turn on its axis and also to rise in its nut, whereby the plate 7.o is allowed to move up to the contact-washer o. The

electric circuit being thus closed through the wire p corresponding to the segment struck, the current of the battery r passes and operates the marking device. Immediately afterward the screw 71 moves down by its own weight land carries the plate 7c down to its position of rest, and thus opens the circuit.

IOO

The marking device (shown in Figi) is nothing lmore than an indicator-board` the face of which is divided into as many parts as there are segments in the target. Each division is provided with an opening for the exposure of a notifying device s, which may be operated by a polarized bar resting against a field-magnet and which is repelled by the passage of the current. The' said indicator-board is provided with a pusher-buttontf to remove the device s from sight, as in ordinary indicator boards or tables.

The above-described device avoids the inconveniences of the system of markers now in use for notifying the results of the shots tired, the necessity to establish a safe retreat, the da ugers to which the markers are exposed, the possibility oi' error, the plugging of holes made by projectiles, dac. It can be applied to targets of any shape, whether representing human or other forms.

Fig. 6 shows a contact device more simple and in which the springs, rods, and plates are dispensed with, the circuit being closed by the screw h itself. For that purpose the threads of the screw are cut away for about. seven-sixleent hs (Tk) of an inch in length, and when the screw is at rest or in its normal position the insulated plate k, having screwthreads of a corresponding pitch to those of the screw, lies opposite the neck thus formed in the threads ot' the screw, and is therefore out of contact with the screw. If the screw receives an impulsion and rises, the lower screw-threaded part of the screw becomes engaged in the screw-threads of the plate and closes the circuit.

The head of the screw 71. may be provided with a rubber washer to deaden the shock when the said screw comes against the plate at the part against which it abuts.

The above-described contact devices are applicable to other purposes, it being obvious that the operation will be the same as long as the cross-arm of the screw h, which carries the ball or l'ly-weightj, is struckl by a movable operating member corresponding` in function to the rod e.

\Ve wish it to be understood that we do not limit our invention to the application hereinbefore described by way of example and that the devices shown in the drawings may be varied as to their dimensions and arrangements as required.

We claiml. The combination of a vertical quickpitched screw, a threaded bearing in which turns said screw, weighted arms carried by the screw, a contact-plate engaging the said screw, a springl for pressing` said plate upward, a contact-piece arranged above said plate, a horizontally-movable rod arranged to strike one ofthe arms carried by the screw, and a telltale-circuit connected with said contact-piece and plate.

2. An electric contact device, comprisingr contact members, one of which is movable toward and from the other, a screw controlling the movable contact member and provided with a cross-arm ha\ing a fiy-weight, and a movable operating member arranged to engage said cross-arm to turn the screw.

3. A target provided with a series of independently-movable sections each carrying an operating` member or rod, vertically-disposed screws each provided with a weighted crossarm arranged in the path of one of the operating members, a threaded bearing for each screw, the screws being ot' such pitch and weight that they will automatically work down in said bearings, and circuit-closers operated by said screws.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto signed our names in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES CHEVALLIER. EUGNE CADET. Witnesses:

CAMILLE BLTRY, EUGNE WATTIER. 

